July 15, 2022 - 3:15pm
LEE MILL 600 GRIND SIZE ADJUSTMENT ISSUES
Hi, I just got an old 600 and in doing the first run of wheat berries, the grind size is all mixed from course to fine. It seems that the C-F adjustment isnt really working. Ive cleaned all the surfaces and the tapered ring rotates and opens and closes the gap between the flat ring behind the stone. It appears that there is a gap between the center disc and the flat ring that the flour particles can get through. Am I missing something? I contacted Lee but they dont know anything about this mill as it was before they bought the company.
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Welcome aboard!
Have you checked previous posts about the Lee 600? They might have some clues.
https://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/lee+600+mill
Yes, something is definitely wrong. When you say your first run, do you mean this is the first time you have used this particular machine? If so, I am worried that you don't have all the parts in the right places. As Dave says, you may want to look at the link he listed to get an idea of how the machine goes together.
If you take off the stone, ( sometimes you have to try to rotate it a bit to get it out) right behind that should be a thin piece of metal in the shape of an O - in the video below, at minute 1:32 she describes it as a ring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJcqkLsO0oo. As you turn the adjusment from C to F, the gap between the inner part of that ring and the rear of the chamber where the flour exits gets narrower. At F , you can barely see a gap, and the flour is finer than any other machine I have ever used. There is no way that the huge pieces you show in your photo can get through that gap, so something is wrong. If the ring is in the right place, then take a photo with the ring off showing the adjuster and the inside of the mill and I may be able to help diagnose what is going on.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've watched videos and read a few posts.
Thanks for the reply. Yes, I've watched videos and read a few posts. The assembly seems simple and the adjustment gap opens and closes with the lever. However there is a 3/16"
gap.jpg
inside.jpg
Okay, something is off. With the lever all the way to C, this is what mine looks like.
When the lever is all the way to F, you can't see any gap .
This is what it looks like with the stone removed, and the flat ring. As you move the knob from C to F, there is another ring that moves forward, and gets extremely close to the rotating disk that throws the berries into the stone. Do you see the disc move forward ( and back as you move to C ). If so, can you measure how far the gap is when the lever is set to C. It is a stretch, but I wonder if someone took it apart and didn't get the center disk fully seated , though if that were the case, I would suspect that it would hit the flat disk that sits on the top.
Also, in the last photo i attached, you can see that there three screws, ( at 12, 3:30 and 8:00 ) that center the ring that moves back and forth- you will see the heads on the outside of the machine - they use a flat head screwdriver and they are adjusted so that the ring that moves is perfectly centered on the rotating disk. If it looks like you have a gap at just one point, you might want to loosen the 3 screws a turn or two ,then try to adjust them so the rotating ring is perfectly centered. That would be a more likely problem then someone having reassembled it wrong, but if the gap is the same all the way around the ring, then those adjuster screws are not the problem.
I have a 1/4" plus gap between the disc and the rotating ring when its on "F". When the flat stainless ring is in place I have a 3/16" gap to the disc to it.
stone removed.jpg
Thanks for the labels. When the lever is at F, the ring should be flush with the disc. When it is at C, the ring is .160 behind the disc. ( so between 1/8 and 3/16 )
It may be the camera angle, but is the more of a gap on the side that is at 7 oclock as opposed to the opposite side?
Thank you for all the comments , I think I have it figured out and I dont think I could have done it without the help and pictures that has come from this forum. The center disc was assembled wrong by the previous owner. I went and took a picture of how it all goes back together and maybe this will help someone out in the future.
center.jpg
Thanks for the follow up post, you are right it may help someone in the future. Once you have it back together, I think you will find that milling on F will be a little slower than a click or two to the left, but will give you a very fine flour.